Dean Faculty of Aerospace Engineering

Challenging field

Aerospace Engineering is a challenging field. Boats and wheels are relatively old technologies compared to airplanes. This is hardly surprising: if you make something a little bit stronger to be on the safe side, there is a chance that it won’t take off because it’s too heavy. Aerospace Engineering is a field where we always need to go to the edge of what’s possible. Maybe this is why our graduates are also in demand in other sectors: to make something fly, you need to understand it thoroughly.

Many challenges ahead

Tomorrow’s aviation will be different to today’s: while the demand for air travel grows exponentially, we are nearing the end of the fossil fuel age, and it is becoming unacceptable to affect the atmosphere and climate (and rightly so): at the same time aircraft safety needs to increase to avoid a weekly reports of crashes This requires a new pioneering age: new materials, smarter structures, new aerodynamic shapes, a new engine+fuel combinations and intelligent systems for advanced operational procedures.

In space engineering, we are seeing more and more applications of satellites. Once installed onboard spacecraft, new technologies will allow us to answer the big questions: what is the origin of the universe, is there life on other planets and, in combination with manned spaceflight, are there other places where we could live? Will we be able to save ourselves if faced with a a huge meteorite heading for the earth?

Our mission

These challenges require new knowledge, and well-educated engineers and scientists, who can apply it. Gathering this knowledge, educating smart people to be these engineers and scientists of tomorrow and, together, coming up with smart and creative solutions: that is our mission.

Prof.dr.ir. Jacco M. Hoekstra
Dean
Faculty of Aerospace Engineering

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